Just how much of 'who you are' is on your hard drive
somewhere? What would
happen if you suddenly lost everything that's on your hard
drive? I mean,
all of your email messages - GONE! All of the tech info
you've collected
over the years - WIPED OUT!! That incredible image library
you've
painstakingly build since your significant other bought you
that awesome
digital camera 4 years ago - SORRY ABOUT YOUR BAD LUCK!!!
And how much
other stuff is in there that you'd never be able to replace
again?
************************************************************
Now that I've got your attention, let's talk about backing
up your important
files. Before we can get into any serious discussion about
this most
important topic, you'll need to decide why you're backing up
your stuff.
Here are a few of the more common scenarios to consider.
Reason #1. You're a bit nervous about all of the viruses,
worms, trojans,
malicious scripts, etc. that permeate the internet and/or
the inevitable
eventual failing of your hard drive and simply want to
safeguard against
losing your important data to some catastrophic event beyond
your control.
Reason #2. You'd much rather keep your multimedia files
(MP3s, images,
theme collection, screensavers, etc.) on CDs or DVDs to free
up hard drive
space or to protect the files from others (or others from
the files) who use
your PC.
Reason #3. You need to back up critical customer data for
your business
so you can store it offsite (somewhere other than your
business' building)
in case of fire, theft, flood, etc.
Reason #4. Any other reason you can think of is a good
reason for backing
up your data.
It is the combination of your reasons for backing up and
your level of
comfort with the procedures outlined below that will dictate
the approach
you decide to take. Regardless of your reasons, it's
imperative that you
understand that all hard drives will eventually fail and
sooner or later, we
all get hit with some sort of malware that penetrates our
computer's
defenses and could bring down the entire system, taking our
precious data
with it (yes, even the most tech savvy among us is not
completely immune).
It's also important to note that a lot of what you've saved
to your hard
drive is not easily replaceable, if it's replaceable at all.
************************************************************
The next step is for you to determine just exactly WHAT you
need to back up.
Again, that depends on the type of backup you choose to
follow. If you
choose to go with creating an image of the partition in
question, then
you're choosing to back up the entire partition, regardless
of the
individual file's importance. All other methods will need a
detailed plan
to make sure you get everything you want into the backup.
With that in
mind, here are suggestions of some of the things you'll want
to back up.
This is by no means a comprehensive, all inclusive, no need
to look for
yourself kind of list. It's only meant as a starting point.
1. Email. This includes not only the files that
constitute your
messages, but also your settings (email accounts, filters,
signatures,
stationery, address book, etc.)
2. Multimedia. Any images, sounds, themes,
wallpaper, cursors,
icons, fonts, movies, etc. that you've collected over the
years. This stuff
is too difficult to replace!
3. My Documents. You created everything in this
master folder. I
can only imagine you'd want to back up the entire thing. Of
course, if
there's stuff in there you really don't need anymore, trim
the fat before
you back it up.
4. Documents and Settings folder (specifically the
ones that are
named after each username and the All Users subfolders).
This is a
depository for most of what constitutes your identity on
that computer.
While some of it would easily be replaced with a reinstall
of Windows, none
of the personalized stuff would remain.
5. If you purchased your system from a major PC maker
(Dell, Gateway,
Alienware, etc.) and they only gave you a Restore CD/DVD or
set, look in the
C:WindowsOptions folder and subfolders and see if there
are a bunch of CAB
files in there. If there is, chances are pretty good that
this folder
contains the files you would need to reinstall Windows
without all of the
stuff the manufacturer added (which most folks would rather
NOT have on
their systems). If they're there, go ahead and back them
up, too.
6. Favorites (saved bookmarks).
7. All downloaded programs. Most folks like to
download trial
versions of software they wish to try out on their systems
before purchasing
them. Some actually follow through and buy the full version
or a license to
enable all of the full options and functions of the
software. These should
definately be backed up along with any registration info or
keys the company
sent to you. This is part of what will enable you to get
your system back
in case of emergency.
8. QuickLaunch, Desktop, Send To, etc. folders. If
you store
frequently used shortcuts (online &/or offline) or other
important files in
any of these, you'll want to save them, too.
9. Saved games. If you play computer games, chances
are you're in
the middle of one and wouldn't appreciate having to start
over. Most games
save your place in the game in a folder inside the game's
installed folder.
Look for a subfolder called 'Saved' and back them up if
you're planning on
reinstalling Windows and all of your software. Once the
game has been
reinstalled, you can copy the Saved folder back to where it
belongs and you
can usually pick up right where you left off the first time
you play it.
10. All privately owned Certificates, DRM licenses,
etc.. This is
very important if you belong to a music subscription
downloading site such
as Napster, ITunes, etc..
11. Your contacts, chats, conversations, etc. from
any instant
messenger apps you use. It's a real bear trying to
reconstruct these things
if you don't have these. There are programs designed to
save this stuff for
some of them that make it much easier than doing it
manually.
12. Anything else that you consider important to
preserve. A lot of
programs save stuff in their own folders and subfolders and
you'll lose them
if you don't know where to find them. I strongly suggest
that you open up
Windows Explorer and go through every folder looking for
anything you might
wish to backup.
************************************************************
Below, you'll find several methods of backing up that data
so you can
quickly restore it any time you see fit.
Method 1. Copy of all of your important stuff to another
partition or
hard drive (an external drive works great for this because
it can be
disconnected easily from the system and stored wherever you
want).
Method 2. Burn the data to CD-R/RW/DVD or some other
medium that will
preserve the data while still allowing you quick & easy
access to it.
Method 3. Create a single 'image' file of an entire
partition
Method 4. Use a 'back up' program to collect and compress
the data.
Since everything ends up compressed, retrieving a single
file or folder is
much more involved if the need should ever arise.
Method 5. Upload the stuff you don't want to lose to an
internet upload
storage service.
If you'd like more details about how to accomplish any of
these methods or
just have some questions about them, just ask.
************************************************************
In the meantime, here are my recommendations for which
method or methods
should be used for the scenarios described earlier.
Reason #1. You're a bit nervous about all of the viruses,
worms, trojans,
malicious scripts, etc. that permeate the internet and/or
the inevitable
eventual failing of your hard drive and simply want to
safeguard against
losing your important data to some catastrophic event beyond
your control.
My Suggestion: As long as you know that Windows has not
been comprimise
by anything malicious, your first line of defense could be
to first create
an image of the entire C: drive. If something should happen
that hoses your
system, just restore the image and you'll be right back
where you are today
(minus anything you change between now & then, of
course). If you're able
to store them on a separate partition or hard drive, create
a new one about
every 3-4 months and be sure to label them with the date
they were created
to minimize confusion. If you don't have the room or
there's only one
partition on your system (and you don't want to partition
that drive or buy
a second HD), you'll want to burn the image onto a CD-R/RW
or DVD instead.
If you choose this solution, be sure to label it with the
date and then keep
it with all of your other important disks & info
(manufacturer's driver
disks, emergency startup floppy &/or CD, serial numbers
for purchased
software, etc.).
Next, you should create a folder somewhere easy to find and
call it
something like Backup. Inside this folder, create
additional subfolders as
needed to duplicate the folder structure of the things you
wish to back up.
If you have a bunch of pics in a folder residing at
'C:MultimediaImagesFamily', create a folder called
'Multimedia' and then
open it. Inside it, create another called 'Images'. Go
inside that one and
create one called 'Family'. When you're finished, go into
the original one
and select all of the files you want to keep. Right click
on one of them
and select Copy from the context menu. Now, go into the new
Family folder
and right click on a blank area. Select Paste from the menu
this time.
Repeat this for everything you wish to save until you're
confident you have
a copy of everything that matters to you (that won't be
restored by
reinstalling the programs, of course). When you're
finished, you'll have
everything already in its proper folder structure so if you
ever need to
restore it, you'll know exactly where the file or files came
from. Finally,
burn this entire folder structure to CD-R/RW/DVD for
safekeeping.
NOTE #1: If you are able to create the new folder tree
structure on a
separate partition, you can save a lot of work by just
dragging the files
from the original folder into the new backup one. Dragging
a file from one
partition or drive to another will automatically Copy the
file rather than
Move it, which is what happens if both folders are on the
same partition or
drive.
NOTE #2: My tutorial for organizing your hard drive will
show you how to
make this part of backing up MUCH, MUCH easier. I'll update
and post it
shortly.
**********************************
Reason #2. You'd much rather keep your multimedia files
(MP3s, images,
theme collection, screensavers, etc.) on CDs or DVDs to free
up hard drive
space or to protect the files from others (or others from
the files) who use
your PC.
My Suggestion: Get them as organized as possible and then
burn them
directly to CD-R/RW/DVD as data (as opposed to music, audio,
slideshow,
etc.).
**********************************
Reason #3. You need to back up critical customer data for
your business
so you can store it offsite (somewhere other than your
business' building)
in case of fire, theft, flood, etc.
My Suggestion: Use a good backup program to create
archives of everything
in your data store (these customer records should always be
on a different
partition or hard drive already). Once the Full backup set
has been
created, instruct the software to do Incremental back ups.
This way, future
back ups will only include new files or ones that have
changed since the
last backup.
If you don't like using backup software, you can always burn
the entire data
structure to CD-R/RW/DVD disks instead. This is the method
I prefer.
**********************************
Reason #4. Any other reason you can think of is a good
reason for backing
up your data.
My Suggestion: Forget about reasons and just do it!
Nothing beats
knowing that all of your important stuff is safely tucked
away someplace
where the baddies can't get to it. It's good for your data
and it'll allow
you to sleep well at night.
**********************************
You may have noticed that I didn't endorse the use of any
internet storage
options. That's because I see them as being of little use
unless we're only
talking about a couple of files. Personally, I don't trust
the idea of my
files being on someone else's server.
I know I didn't give much in the way of details here, just
concepts. If you
need help choosing, setting up or using one of these methods
and their
associated programs, give a yell and we'll open up a group
discussion about
it.
Peace,
GMan
"The only dumb questions are the ones that are never
asked!"
--
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